Richard Sherman poll: Read his rant, his ‘apology,’ fallout

Here’s a quick poll, a look at what Richard Sherman said during a postgame interview with Erin Andrew, the explanation he offered Tuesday morning on SI.com’s Monday Morning Quarterback and reaction from others.

The poll

The rant

Sherman: “I’m the best corner in the game! When you try me with a sorry receiver like (the 49ers’ Michael) Crabtree, that’s the result you are going to get! Don’t you even talk about me!”

Andrews: “Who was talking about you?”

Sherman: “Crabtree! Don’t open your mouth about the best or I’m going to shut it for you real quick!”

Andrews, looking at camera and talking to directors: “And Joe (FOX Sports announcer Joe Buck), back over to you.”

The explanation

“It was loud, it was in the moment, and it was just a small part of the person I am. I don’t want to be a villain, because I’m not a villainous person. …

“To those who would call me a thug or worse because I show passion on a football field — don’t judge a person’s character by what they do between the lines. Judge a man by what he does off the field, what he does for his community, what he does for his family.”

– Sherman, to SI.com’s Monday Morning Quarterback, on the rant

“I threw a choking sign at 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Why? Because he decided he was going to try the guy he was avoiding all game, because, I don’t know, he’s probably not paying attention for the game-winning play. C’mon, you’re better than that.”

– Sherman on the choking sign

“I ran over to Crabtree to shake his hand but he ignored me. I patted him, stuck out my hand and said, “Good game, good game.” That’s when he shoved my face, and that’s when I went off.”

– Sherman on the series of events at the end of the game

“As far as Crabtree being a top-20 NFL receiver, you’d have a hard time making that argument to me. There are a lot of receivers playing good ball out there, and Josh Gordon needed 14 games to produce almost double what Crabtree can do in a full season. And Gordon had Brandon Weeden, Brian Hoyer and Jason Campbell playing quarterback.”

– Sherman on Michael Crabtree

“A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of a sheep.”

– Sherman on Twitter

“I apologize for attacking an individual and taking the attention away from the fantastic game by my teammates. …That was not my intent.’

– Sherman text to ESPN’s Ed Werder

The fallout

“How much have you and I wanted a moment like that where an athlete didn’t say, ‘We’re playing Seahawks ball,’ ‘We’re taking it play-by-play, game-by-game, this is what we wanted.’ He lost his mind, and it was awesome for once, you know?”

– Erin Andrews on “The Dan Patrick Show”

“I ain’t getting into that. You know what time it is. When you’re on the field, he ain’t doing nothing. That’s one play. He knows it.

“That’s probably the only play he made the whole game.”

– Crabtree on Sherman

“We did talk about it and he was really clear that the last thing that he wanted to do was to take something away from our team and what we had accomplished. He got caught right in the throes of the fight and the battle.”

– Pete Carroll in Monday news conference

“I don’t know him at all. I’ve watched him play and he’s that kind of guy. I approach the game and I have respect for my opponent. That’s the way our team always plays and we win with graciousness. When we lose, we can do better. Some teams don’t always do that, that’s not their program”

– Tom Brady, to Boston sports radio WEEI, on Sherman

“So Russell is a class act! Sherman on the other hand…. If he played baseball would get a high and tight fastball.”

– Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander on Twitter

“I want @KingCrab15 and @RSherman_25 to squash this mess PLEASE. We don’t need anymore more brother on brother degrading Period. Let it go!”

– NFL Hall of Famer, NFL.com broadcaster, Deion Sanders on Twitter

Want to be a reader contributor to The Seattle Times’ Take 2 blog? Email your original, previously unpublished work or proposal to Sports Editor Don Shelton at dshelton@seattletimes.com or sports@seattletimes.com. Not all submissions can be published. The Times reserves the right to edit and publish any submissions online and/or in print.

Have something to say?

Want to be a reader contributor to The Seattle Times’ Take 2 blog? Email your original, previously unpublished work or proposal to Sports Editor Don Shelton at dshelton@seattletimes.com or sports@seattletimes.com. Not all submissions can be published. The Times reserves the right to edit and publish any submissions online and/or in print.